Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Interrogation
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“Come on, talk.”
As if this had happened countless times before, I naturally subjected Theodore to an <interrogation>.
It would take a few minutes for the drug to take effect.
Theodore began to struggle with his increasingly heavy eyelids.
“You’re still as tough as ever, Black Mage White.”
I grabbed the staggering Theodore and shoved him so his head faced the bed.
-Thud.
Theodore collapsed limply.
‘Why am I doing this?’
Was there this much anger and irritation inside me?
For some reason, I felt utterly <ridiculous>.
I was annoyed by all the futile struggles, flailing, resistance, defiance—everything that stood in my way in my perception.
“Something’s coming to mind, right? There’s a restraint you’ve placed on yourself in your head.”
“Ah— nothing—”
Lying there staring at the ceiling, Theodore mumbled something with a sleepy expression.
I gripped his arm tightly and released it, repeating the motion.
A strange mix of emotions was fiercely clashing within me.
Even so, I muttered incomprehensible words to Theodore.
“Magic you cast on yourself isn’t perfect. There’s definitely a flaw. You should be able to break through it to some extent right now.”
“Ugh, uh…”
I yanked open the top two buttons of his shirt collar.
There, still etched, was the magic circle he had supposedly carved.
It was a kind of milestone.
Now a broken one that no longer worked.
“You carved this, didn’t you? It says [Remember without fail]. What’s the point of your promise with Shirley Spencer? It’s in the past now, meaningless. How about it? Does it come to mind now?”
I should stop this right now.
But the current me was a seasoned interrogator.
The mental restraint, the promise with Shirley, the magic circle.
I was gradually closing in on the essence of this incident.
“No— nothing…”
No helping it. There were words I had to hear from Theodore.
I gripped and released his arm again, squeezing it like wringing a rag.
“Theodore White! Cut the games now. The day I shot you. You said this: ‘Sorry it turned out like this.’ Why did you say that? Huh?”
“That was… because I couldn’t stop the holy war. The exe… execution ceremony, the disaster triggered from Aegis Academy…”
“That’s right, good job. You can do it.”
Only now did I start feeling better.
I couldn’t draw out topics beyond what ‘Arma Cruise knows.’
So I waited for Theodore’s story.
“A trivial incident sparked an on-campus rebellion… it spiraled out of control… and graduation became an execution ceremony.”
“Yeah, that’s how it started.”
I grew increasingly fearful at Theodore’s sudden incomprehensible words.
Unknown facets I was unaware of were starting to surface one by one.
On top of that, I was sinking into a wicked intoxication from wielding power over another person.
Just as I imagined how thrilling it would be if this repeated and tried to indulge in that high, Theodore spoke again.
“The campus stained with blood… only two survivors among that year’s graduates…”
“Who were they?”
“Hoo… Arma Cruise and— Machina Christie…”
“Me and Machina?”
Machina was a year ahead of me.
We wouldn’t have graduated together under normal circumstances, and the idea of only two graduates was suspicious.
Moreover, above all, it was odd that Judith’s name wasn’t mentioned, as she was in the same graduating class as me.
“…What about Judith?”
“The Paladin…”
Theodore panted painfully mid-answer, twisting in agony.
This was probably pain from forcibly resisting the restraint he’d placed on himself.
“The Paladin and the dead cadets… Ugh… Hic… I’m sorry… I can’t say more… Because I promised Sir Spencer… I’d break the promise again. Urk.”
Theodore covered his eyes with his hand, swallowing small sobs before starting to dry-heave.
The excessive interrogation had apparently triggered his trauma.
“Hey, listen to me carefully, Theodore. That’s not all you know. You haven’t said a single important thing.”
“Sir Spencer… I’m sorry…”
“Damn it, Shirley Spencer again. Hey, Theodore White!”
“Kuh…”
It was the moment Theodore removed his hands covering his eyes.
“Why are you staying quiet, Theo!”
-Bang!
Oh no.
Theodore hadn’t come alone.
The door suddenly flew open.
“Senior!? What the hell is this!! Let go of Theodore!”
My seized right arm was suddenly wrenched back.
Bursting in were Shirley Spencer and Judith Taylor.
I’d noticed they kept gathering in groups of four lately—they must have conspired without me…
‘Huh?’
What’s this?
By the time I snapped out of it, I had done something irreversible.
The vial rolling on the floor, Shirley pinning me down by twisting my arm, Theodore clutching his head and gasping.
‘I screwed up.’
I should have dumped that damn vial.
Why hadn’t a skilled mage like Theodore resisted me?
No, that didn’t matter anymore.
No matter Theodore’s attitude, it didn’t erase my sin.
‘Why.’
That vial.
I should have thrown it away.
Why had I kept it despite being bothered by it?
When had I started thinking and acting as myself, and when had I unknowingly fallen into delusion?
“Arma, what the hell have you done.”
The voice calling my name snapped me back to reality belatedly.
Judith, looking worried, stared down at me, and Arthur, who entered last, locked the door and drew the curtains.
“Are you back to your senses?”
“Senses or not…”
I had stayed awake the whole time.
Unlike Theodore, I hadn’t been in a trance, drunk, or dazed.
That’s why… it was terrifying.
“What the hell have I done…”
As Arthur relit the couple of candles extinguished by drawing the curtains, Shirley released my arm.
“Sorry, Senior.”
“No…”
Turning my gaze to the bedside, I saw Theodore, his trembling stopped as the pain subsided, catching his breath.
I wanted to cover his pitiful form with a blanket, but I knew I was in no position to.
I withdrew my hand reaching for the blanket and dragged over a chair in front of the desk to sit.
Nearly on the edge, I sat isolated, but it felt more comfortable this way.
“…”
As soon as rationality returned, cold sweat poured like rain, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Sidelong, I confirmed Arthur speaking a few words to Theodore, overwhelmed by guilt with nowhere to put myself.
It was like sitting on pins and needles.
What had I done?
Everything was already spilled milk; I could never pretend today didn’t happen.
Even if Theodore forgave me.
“Phew…”
An awkward silence stretched on.
I knew I had to speak first to break it, but I couldn’t easily open my mouth.
‘Dangerous.’
Was this what that presence of Yvonne meant by ‘we’ll see’?
Hadn’t I safely slipped into the shadows that day and escaped Yvonne’s presence?
I felt my heart pounding, but even that seemed artificial.
What if I had already died then, and this situation was just a daydream created by Yvonne’s presence…
“Arma.”
With one arm on the desk, eyes covered as I sank into thought, Judith dragged a chair over and sat beside me.
“Judith. For now, it’s better if you don’t get close to me…”
The thought that I, or Yvonne’s presence, might harm her wasn’t limited to just Theodore; there was no guarantee I wouldn’t hurt Judith.
‘Restraints… No, would that even work on me? How strong has Yvonne’s influence on me become?’
My thoughts chained together.
In my current state, I could be influenced by Yvonne’s presence at any moment without knowing.
I might suddenly draw my gun and shoot everyone in the room.
The moment that thought hit, I hurriedly unbuckled my holster, securely tied the gun, and stowed it in the desk drawer.
“Senior…”
This time, Shirley, who had watched, spoke up uneasily.
I knew full well.
Even this behavior of mine only fueled their anxiety.
“What exactly were you trying to do?”
In the end, Arthur was the first to broach the main topic.
His anger felt like a blade piercing my entire body.
Maybe this was the ‘sword aura emitting’ situation Judith mentioned before?
At that moment, I thought even if furious Arthur tried to kill me, I couldn’t do a thing.
However, it was Theodore who stopped the angry Arthur.
“I’m fine. It was nothing.”
“Nothing? How is rolling on the floor like that nothing?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t roll. I was just lying down.”
“Theodore White.”
“Arthur Usher, hear me out.”
Theodore, recovering his condition faster than expected, sat up.
I suddenly recalled he had some resistance to the drug he made himself.
Good.
Maybe the damage was less than I thought.
“Don’t misunderstand. I… knew to some extent that Arma Cruise wasn’t in her right mind.”
Still dizzy, Theodore staggered as he rose.
Shirley quickly approached to support him, but Theodore politely refused her hand and barely sat back on the bed.
“I thought it was weird. We agreed on a signal if anything seemed off, but you didn’t come out for so long…”
Theodore briefly apologized to Shirley’s words before responding.
“I didn’t resist because of unstable gaps in my memory. Since ‘the weird Arma Cruise’ kept wanting to know about those gaps, I decided to gamble too.”
“…What?”
Arthur asked incredulously.
Given the situation, I didn’t show it, but I was shocked by Theodore’s words.
Why make that judgment in a crisis like just now?
Once, that side of Theodore seemed childish, but not anymore.
Theodore’s dangerous temperament would surely devour him someday.
‘I really wasn’t thinking straight.’
I started to say something but closed my mouth.
What was there to say?
What right did I have, having tried to drug a promising junior five years my junior to extract information?
“The problem is— I truly don’t remember anything from just now. For real this time.”
Among the string of bad events in that short moment, that at least seemed like good news.
What Theodore said in his half-delirious state wouldn’t be mentally healthy for anyone.
Theodore probably experienced something like a dream.
Like how you vividly remember a dream right after waking but forget even that you dreamed if you don’t write it down, his memory had flown away.
“No helping it. Explain the rest yourself, Arma.”